


Sleeping Together

by thisisapaige



Series: Thisisapaige's Suptober20 Collection [26]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: 5 Times, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Castiel and Dean Winchester in Love, Castiel in the Men of Letters Bunker (Supernatural), Emotional Sex, Explicit Language, First Kiss, First Time, Fluff and Smut, Frottage, Human Castiel (Supernatural), Literal Sleeping Together, Love Confessions, M/M, One Shot, Porn with Feelings, Sharing a Bed, Sleeping Together, Supportive Sam Winchester, Suptober 2020 (Supernatural), until it's y'know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:13:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27228655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisisapaige/pseuds/thisisapaige
Summary: (For Suptober20. Day 26 Prompt: Walk of Shame)⁂Okay, but why? It wasn't a total surprise. Dean always had a funny, fluttery feeling in his chest when he looked at Cas, especially when Cas smiled. Dean always felt a little off, a little wrong, when Cas wasn't around. Dean always wanted Cas to stay.So, maybe it wasn't a surprise. It still was a shock. The realization hit Dean like a tonne of bricks saying: "Guess what, Dean? You're in love with your best friend! You always have been and now you're realizing it by staring at his face while he sleeps because that's not creepy at all." Because bricks could talk. Hey, Dean had seen weirder.(Or, the five times Dean and Cas slept together and the one time they...slept together.)
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Series: Thisisapaige's Suptober20 Collection [26]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950343
Comments: 12
Kudos: 352





	Sleeping Together

**Author's Note:**

> This diverges some time post-bunker but (unfortunately) some time before Jack. Cas is human in this one. Have fun, y'all. ;)  
> [This is a link to my Tumblr!](https://thisisapaige.tumblr.com/)

The first time it happened, it was an accident.

Dean and Cas slept together.

No. Not like _that._ Pervert. 

They literally slept together in a bed, clothing on, after a partially draining hunt. The moment they returned to the motel, Cas fell into an exhausted heap into the nearest bed. He still had monster goo in his hair and muddy boots on his feet. He also happened to pick Dean’s bed. 

Sure, Dean could have used the other bed but that was for Sam. Sam was still on crime scene clean up duty and, after that super fun task, he deserved a bed of his own. Also, the dude’s giant limbs and overgrown body needed an entire queen to itself. Yeah. Logical. So, obviously Dean, after wrangling the covers out from under Cas and removing his boots for him, had to sleep next to Cas.

It was, in fact, the best goddamn sleep Dean had in a long, long time. 

When Dean woke up that morning, the first thing he saw was Cas. Cas, with his messy bed head. Cas, with his long eyelashes casting shadows over his cheeks. Cas, newly human, who twitched his nose in his sleep. Cas, still angelic in many ways, who Dean--

Shit. Fuck. Oh no. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.

Cas, who Dean ridiculously, completely, hopelessly, loved. 

What the fuck, Winchester? Not the time for that.

But, yeah, he was kind of freaking out a bit.

Okay, but why? It wasn't a total surprise. Dean always had a funny, fluttery feeling in his chest when he looked at Cas, especially when Cas smiled. Dean always felt a little off, a little wrong, when Cas wasn't around. Dean always wanted Cas to stay.

So, maybe it wasn't a surprise. It still was a shock. The realization hit Dean like a tonne of bricks saying: "Guess what, Dean? You're in love with your best friend! You always have been and now you're realizing it by staring at his face while he sleeps because that's not creepy at all." Because bricks could talk. Hey, Dean had seen weirder.

Dean could deal with this. Dean could deal with this. He just had to get up and--

Ew, ghoul guts.

Dean could deal with this after a shower.

The sheets on the other bead were rumpled but Sam was nowhere to be seen. Sam was in the room at some point, though. Even a big lunkhead like him wouldn't have missed Dean and Cas sleeping in the same bed, curved towards each other, their fingers reaching out but not quite touching.

Dean had a shower. Dean could deal with this.

When Dean left Cas snoozing alone in the motel room, Dean felt oddly like he was doing the walk of shame.

He found Sam in the diner next door to the motel. Sam waved Dean down when he entered, pointing at the other side of the booth. Coffee, a plate of bacon, eggs, and toast, fresh and hot, were waiting for him.

"Woah," Dean said, digging in as soon as he slipped into the seat, "is it my birthday or something?"

Sam shrugged and sipped his coffee. Okay, yeah, Dean could be reading into things but that gesture was a little too casual.

"I'm guessing Cas is still asleep?" Sam asked.

"Hey, you've seen him when he's up before noon," Dean said. 

"Yeah." Sam shook his head. "I got him a doggie bag."

"Smart. Peace offering."

Dean focused on his plate. Damn, greasy diners in nowhere towns sure knew how to scramble their eggs.

"What about you?" Sam asked and, oh yeah, that tone was way too casual. "I noticed you didn't use the pull-out. Sleep well?"

Oh. Yeah. There was a pull-out. Dean forgot.

"Not bad." Dean could play the casual game, too. "How about you?"

"Fine."

Making sure his knife and fork made loud clinks against the plate, Dean ignored Sam's puppy dog eyed stare. Sure, Dean wasn't looking at it but he sure could feel it. He had a sixth sense for that kind of thing.

Also, if he did look up, all ability to act casual would go out the window.

"Dean, you--" Sam sighed. "You seem happier these days. Y'know, since Cas started living with us."

Dean stuffed his face full of bacon and made a sound, not agreeing or disagreeing.

"It's okay, y'know, to do what makes you happy," Sam continued. "You should."

Shoving an entire piece of toast in his mouth, Dean made another mumbling noise.

"Dude," Sam said in disgust, "chew your food at least."

Dean smiled around the toast. Good. Dean could deal with this.

⁂

The second time it happened, it wasn't entirely an accident but it wasn't really on purpose either.

Cas had taken a liking to books and reading. On the bookcase in his room, he kept his Nora Roberts next to his Vonnegut, which were next to his Shakespeare collection, which he kept next to his Scott Westerfeld series. The dude read everything he could get his hands on and he read _fast_. His room was overflowing with books, most of them bought at library fundraisers and garage sales, and he was always on the lookout for more. 

Since Cas wasn't all that picky, Dean went into Cas's room one night to give him the old dog-eared copy of _Pride and Prejudice_ that he found cleaning under one of the library shelves. It wasn't exactly a pretty looking thing, but Cas acted as if Dean gave him something made of pure gold. Cas smiled.

And, fucking damn it, Dean was so fucking in love.

That was supposed to be it. Dean gave Cas the book, so it was time to go on his merry little way, but then Cas asked Dean to stay. He offered Dean a seat on his bed. Dean couldn't bring himself to say no, so he did as asked. 

And Cas started to read to Dean.

Dean always liked Cas's voice, his low rumble, his soft way of speaking. It was the perfect voice for storytelling. It wasn't long before the sound carried Dean off to sleep.

The next morning, Dean left before Cas woke up. 

Again. 

And, again, it kind of felt like a walk of shame.

⁂

The third time it happened, it was by force.

Cas got hurt. It was a simple routine hunt in a simple routine graveyard and Cas got hurt. 

Even thinking about it made Dean tremble. 

He remembered the bruises on Cas's skin. He remembered the blood. He remembered shouting at Sam to drive faster, faster, faster, and telling Cas he'd be okay.

Cas was okay, eventually. It took a solid week of Sam and Dean trading shifts to watch over Cas to make that happen. Dean spent most of the time sharing Cas's bed, staying close just in case something happened.

There was no way Sam missed how Dean curled around Cas while they slept, considering they were all holed up in the same room. Sam didn't say anything. Sam was worried too.

It wasn't on purpose, but Dean left before Cas woke up. Dean and Sam had been living off a bag of beef jerky for two days and Sam insisted Dean get some air. 

All of that was well and good, but, somehow, it still felt like a walk of shame.

⁂

The fourth time, it happened because Dean caught the flu.

Dean had taken down ghosts, werewolves, and some actual gods. He managed to walk away from those relatively fresh and clean but one simple little bug laid him right out for two weeks.

"Stop acting like a child," Cas said, holding out a spoonful of red medicine, "and take it."

"How would you know how a kid acts?" Dean asked, voice pinched, trying to look intimidating propped up against the headboard with three fuzzy blankets wrapped around his shoulders and a bright red nose. "You weren't one."

"I know it when I see it and I'm seeing it right now." Cas shoved the spoon into Dean's face. "Take it."

And, because Cas gave him the wide, sad blue eyed plea and Dean was so goddamn in love, he leaned forward and let Cas spoon feed him the damn medicine. Dean even tried not to grimace as the liquid slithered down his throat. He wasn't all that successful.

Dean sagged back into the bed. "Happy now?"

"No, I'm not." Castiel set the medicine aside and returned to his place at the edge of Dean's bed. "I don't want to give you medicine. I want to heal you." 

Dean's head felt like a helium balloon in a vice, but he sure as hell wasn't going to let that comment go. Dean had to cross oceans to reach out and grab Cas's shoulder, but he managed to do it.

"Hey, Cas." Dean blinked to keep focused. Wow. Was the medicine supposed to work that fast? "You are _._ "

Cas raised an eyebrow. "What? How? Before I fell you would have been fine in a matter of moments."

"Okay, sure but, before you fell, you weren't really around as much. You didn't steal my coffee in the morning. You didn't read to me. And, hey, you got me to take my meds. Sam gave up on that years ago." Dean was in the ocean now, treading water, swaying, swaying. Cas was Dean's anchor, gently pushing Dean until he was comfortably settled in the bed. "You are healing me, Cas. Just in a more human way."

Cas watched Dean for a long time, at least to Dean it was long, his head tilted to the side. "I don't understand what you mean."

"Well," Dean patted the empty space beside him, "c'mere and let me get all my gross germs on you and I'll show you."

A few moments later, Cas was in Dean’s bed, wearing a soft t-shirt and sweatpants, holding a sick, sniffly, sweaty Dean in his arms. Dean snuggled up to Cas, not bothering to pretend he didn’t want to, and buried his face in Cas’s chest. There, Dean listened to the strong beat of Cas's new human heart

Dean grabbed handfuls of Cas’s t-shirt and pulled him in closer, closer, closer, because he was so fucking in love that just being close to Cas was enough to make Dean feel better.

The fever broke that night. In desperate need of a shower, Dean had to untangle from Cas before he could leave the room. Cas stirred when Dean left and reached out to hug Dean’s pillow to his chest.

When Dean headed for the showers before Cas woke up, he walked in shame.

⁂

The fifth time it happened, there was a knock on Dean’s door.

“Dean?” 

It was one of those nights that Dean plain couldn’t sleep, so he shot out of bed and rushed to the door. There was something in the way Cas said the name, soft, worried, distressed, that made Dean hurry.

Cas fell into Dean’s arms the moment they saw each other. He whispered Dean’s name over and over, arms wrapped tight around Dean’s shoulders. While he didn’t know what was going on, Dean remained in the doorway of his room and held Cas. Dean waited until Cas’s breaths evened out and his body stilled. 

“What’s wrong?” Dean asked.

“Nightmare,” Cas said, his voice muffled by Dean’s shirt. “Usually I can tell the difference but--” Cas squeezed Dean tighter.

“Hey, hey. It’s okay.” Dean kept mumbling that, again and again, rubbing soothing circles on Cas’s back. “You can stay here.”

That was that. Dean went to his side of the bed; Cas went to his side of the bed. Because, well, they had established sides now. They met in the middle because, well, they did that now too, and became a warm, soft, comfortable tangle of limbs. 

Then Dean lost his damn mind and kissed Cas. 

But, the thing was, Cas kissed him back. 

It was slow and sweet: gentle brushes of lips, tentative tastes of tongues. It went on forever and yet lasted no time at all. It was perfect, utterly perfect. 

Cas smiled as he slept. Dean couldn’t help but smile in return.

But, once again, Dean left before Cas woke up. In the morning, Dean began to worry. Dean began to worry that the night before was a fluke, that Dean had somehow messed everything up.

Sam looked up when Dean entered the kitchen, his eyes worried. Dean ignored Sam’s question and walked to the coffee pot in shame.

⁂

The sixth time it happened, they didn’t sleep at all.

Yes. Yes, like _that_. Pervert. 

Dean avoided Cas since the night they kissed. A few days later, Cas was completely and utterly fed up with Dean. Late one night, Cas cornered Dean in the hallway, grabbed his hand, and pulled him into Dean’s room. The door shut behind Dean with a final click.

Cas didn’t say anything. He started at Dean, lips pursed and arms crossed.

Fuck. Shit. Damn it. Cas looked hurt, genuinely _hurt_ , and Dean knew it was because of him. Dean didn’t want to do that to Cas, didn’t want to do that to the man he loved.

“Uh, hey, Cas,” Dean said, rubbing the back of his neck, “what’s shaking?”

Cas narrowed his eyes into slits. So, yeah. Not the right thing to say. 

“I don’t understand you. Everything we’ve done has led me to believe that--” Cas broke off with a sigh. “Then you avoid me.”

Dean didn’t know what to say for himself. He knew what Cas was talking about, knew what he meant. Dean slumped against the closed door and hung his head, unable to look at Cas.

Turned out, Dean couldn’t deal with this.

“Dean,” Cas said, soft and sweet, like the name itself was a quiet prayer, a kiss, “let’s go to bed.”

That was that. Dean went to his side of the bed; Cas went to his side of the bed. They lay flat on their backs, staring up at the ceiling, a wide gulf of space between them. It was dark and silent and Dean couldn’t deal with this. Dean couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“I love you.” Dean didn’t realize how much that scared him until he heard the tremor in his voice. “And, and, and, I worried I somehow messed things up or, or--”

“Dean,” Cas interrupted, which was a good thing because Dean was ready to ramble, “I love you, too.”

Fuc--

Wait, no. That was a good thing. A really good thing. 

Dean rolled onto his side, facing Cas, and reached across the empty space. Cas was already there.

“Okay,” Dean said, accepting Cas’s offered embrace, “okay.”

Their second kiss was even better than the first. Dean had no clue how that could be possible but it was true. There was nothing tentative about it now, both of them gasping, grasping at each other, needing more. 

Dean rolled Cas onto his back and pushed him into the mattress. Bracing himself on his arms, Dean kissed his way down Cas’s jaw and neck. Cas sighed in contentment and tilted his head back, exposing more sensitive skin for Dean to explore.

Cas ran his hands up Dean’s back, broad palms warm against the skin. After a few instant tugs on the collar of his shirt from Cas, Dean got the picture. He pulled away from Cas just enough to take off his shirt and threw it into some dark corner of the room. Fair was fair, so Cas’s shirt soon joined it. 

Cas’s hands were everywhere, exploring Dean’s body in the dark. Dean returned the favour, fascinated by the shape of Cas’s hipbones under his fingers. He traced them, teasing with his touch, enjoying the way the light pressure made Cas squirm.

For someone who lived for an innumerable amount of years, Cas was one inpatient guy. He bucked his hips and, in the same motion, grabbed two generous handfuls of Dean’s ass and squeezed.

Shit. If Dean wasn’t hard already from all the teasing, the deep needy growl Cas just made would have done it. 

Okay, okay. No more teasing. No more teasing because Dean needed to hear Cas make that noise again. _Now._

In his haste to get their pants off now, actually yesterday, Dean nearly smacked himself in the face when a pant leg ended up caught around Cas’s ankle. Dean managed, however, and the last of their clothes ended up… well, somewhere.

Dean returned to Cas, his tongue eager, his skin hot and smooth. Pressing a thigh between Cas’s legs, Dean began to move. He started slow, figuring out how to fit their bodies together, figuring out how to touch. The answer was perfect. The answer was everywhere. 

Cas made that sound again. Dean tried to catch it in his mouth.

They moved together, finding their rhythm, building it, building it, building it, until they were gasping, sighing, moaning each other’s names. They grabbed at each other, feeling, stroking, touching skin, needing to get closer, closer, closer. 

Every move, every touch, every sound which passed Cas’s lips, increased Dean’s need, increased the pressure in Dean’s body, increased Dean’s--

Dean cried out Cas’s name, his hips jerking fast and frantic, as the pleasure took hold. Cas held Dean, kept him together as he shattered into stars, and kissed him as he returned to the Earth. When he came back, Cas moaned Dean’s name. Together, they came to rest.

Still panting, still covered in the sheen of sweet, Dean kissed Cas and whispered, “I love you.”

And Cas whispered it back.

The next morning, Dean didn’t leave before Cas woke up. He waited. That morning, they left the room together, hand and hand. When they entered the kitchen as one, Dean met Sam's eyes, saw the pointed look there, and waggled his eyebrows.

Because Dean wasn’t on a walk of shame this time.

When he walked with Cas, it was a stride of pride.


End file.
